[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfreda, Georgia. This is the next message in our series in the book of 2 Corinthians, entitled, We Faint Not.
[0:14] He is an awesome God, amen? And He did overcome, and that's how I'm saved. He was killed and put in a tomb and arose from the dead.
[0:24] What a wonderful Savior we have. Take your Bibles, if you would, and go to 2 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians 1. And if you'd like to take notes or write down a title, I'd like you to write down that salvation and sanctification are a God thing.
[0:39] Write that down. Salvation and sanctification are a God thing. I want you to understand. I really want you to understand. I need you to understand. You need to understand.
[0:50] For you, you need to understand that it is God who saves. It is God who makes holy. It is God who gets all the glory and all the honor and all the praise because it's the work of God.
[1:02] And He's going to make that very clear in the passage of Scripture. That is the most assuring thing that you can imagine to happen in your life. That God saves us and God does the work in us and that we can look to Him.
[1:14] That's why we sing those songs. That's why we praise Him like we do. That's why we give the offerings that we do. Because we know that it's God. Not the church, but the God of glory.
[1:25] Look if you would in verse 14. Verse 14. The Bible says, As also you have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
[1:37] Let's bow our head for just a word of prayer. Father, speak to our hearts. Teach us this morning. Grow us. Grow us in our relationship with each other. In our relationship with you. Grow us in our walk of holiness.
[1:50] Help us, dear God, to acknowledge your greatness and to magnify you. And to think of you. And just be praising you. And I pray, God, that you bring honor to your name in these moments. In Jesus' name.
[2:02] Amen. The first thing you might want to write down is Paul loves them and he believes that they love him. Paul loves them and he believes they love him. Now, you've got to understand the place. If you read the verse, it says, As also you have acknowledged us in part.
[2:17] Paul says, you know, in a way, at least I still think this is clear. Paul's the guy who spent 18 months of his life getting this church started. He lived with them for 18 months. He preached to them day and night. He cared about them.
[2:29] He shared the gospel with them. He taught them. Now, he's already written them a letter. And 1 Corinthians was a really harsh letter. I mean, it was a letter saying, you got a lot of stuff going on in that church that ought not be going on.
[2:43] He has sent, obviously, apparently another letter at another visitor. And he says, hey, I just want you to know, I am very much in love with you. I love you.
[2:53] You're my rejoicing. I'm your rejoicing. We have a special relationship as pastor and people. And to him, he's proud of them and he makes that clear and he rejoices when he thinks about them.
[3:07] When we stand before the Lord, Paul says that he will find that they are his joy, a source of great joy for him. And he hopes that he is that for them. This speaks of a mutual love and respect that ought to exist between the pastor and the congregation.
[3:24] Paul knew that God was and would use him in the life of the congregation and that God would use the church in his life. I'd just like to stop and say something to you. Because sometimes you come out of backgrounds and you might not understand a relationship between a pastor and a church.
[3:37] But if you listen today and if you come back tonight, I'm going to show you some of the things Paul said about how a pastor, how he pastored these people, how he loved these people and the transparency that existed there, etc.
[3:49] We'll talk about that a little bit tonight. But do you realize what's happening here? He loved them. Now, all I can say to you is this. I love you. And I pray for you. I try to, if you've come long enough that they've got you on my prayer list, Catherine Rosselli adds everybody to my prayer list.
[4:03] You pop up in a reminder and alert every day for seven days. One of the ladies in this room came to me one day and she said, do you know my name?
[4:14] And I said, no, I do not. And she said, so that means I am not on your prayer list. I said, that means you're not on my prayer list. And I said, so let's get you on there.
[4:24] The next week she came out and said, I know you. And I called her name. I love you and I care. And so Paul's writing this letter and he said, there's going to be some harsh things said. He's going to preach some truths that are shocking.
[4:35] He's going to call their attention about some things, but it's all going to be God's word to them. And he says, hey, I think you ought to be rejoicing that you have a pastor that loves you and would teach you the truth.
[4:47] It would open the Bible. And he said, I will tell you that you are my joy. Now look at the second thing he says, if you would, in this passage, headed towards what God's doing in our life. Look at verse 15.
[4:58] Paul wanted them to benefit each other. Write that down. Benefit each other. Paul said in verse 15, and in this confidence that we're friends, that you love me, I was minded to come unto you before that you might have a second benefit.
[5:13] Circle that, a second benefit. And to pass by you into Macedonia and to come again out of Macedonia unto you and of you to be brought on my way toward Judea.
[5:23] Now look at this. Guess what? Pastoring and preaching and teaching and services on Sunday morning and Sunday night and at our church on Thursday night. Guess what? They ought to be another benefit.
[5:35] Paul had spent 18 months with them. He had shown them what it meant to be saved. He had shown them how to escape hell and make heaven a reality for them. He had shown them how to grow in love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[5:48] He had shown them how to serve God. He had discipled them. And then he had left. And he said, but if I come back, I want it to be a second benefit.
[5:59] I'm coming back, in other words, to be another blessing to you. I'm coming back so it will be good for you. Something that you will enjoy that God would do in your life. Paul wants to come back and be a blessing.
[6:10] Listen, they would be blessed because they would learn and they would grow in grace. They would be blessed because he would share with them the blessings in another work of grace. Now let me tell you what I do each day.
[6:21] I was just sitting there thinking before I came up here. And I said to the Lord, I don't deserve to preach to these people. I don't deserve to get up here. I know who I am. I know that if it wasn't for the grace of God, I would be absolutely nobody.
[6:32] And I said, God, I'm not worthy that they listen to me. But if I could just be a voice for this text, if I could just help you see what the Bible says, this book is worthy to speak to you.
[6:42] And if you'd have this book open and have it on your lap and let the Lord speak to you, it'd be a tremendous thing. Paul said, I want to come and be a second benefit to you. I want to come and be another blessing to you.
[6:53] I can't speak like the apostle Paul. I'm not an apostle. But I do hold in my hands the word of God. And I have spent time studying it so that it would be a benefit to you today, so that it would strengthen you, so that it would help you in your walk for God.
[7:06] And that's what Paul's saying. But in the passage here, there's two things going on. It's a, hey, you ought to be proud of me and rejoicing about me. And you are my rejoicing. I'm going to come give you a second benefit.
[7:19] And then he says, but you're going to benefit me. Look, if you would, at the verse again, verse 16. Look at what he said. And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judea.
[7:35] I want you to underline, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judea. See, Paul said, man, we got this special thing between us. I was your pastor for 18 months.
[7:47] I taught you. I've been writing letters to you. I'm an apostle. I've been helping you in your spiritual growth. I want to come back to you, and I want to open the Bible again. And I want to teach you more of God's Word, and I want to help you grow.
[7:58] He said, but it's a mutually beneficial thing. Paul said, you will bring me on my way. You will bring me on my way toward Judea. Now, what in the world is going on there?
[8:09] That's very similar to what will happen in our Faith Promised Missions Conference. You know what happens? The missionaries come in here. They need to go on their way to doing the things of God. They need to go on their way to the places they're going.
[8:21] They need to go on to India like Paul Talby is about to leave for India. And Paul said, I'll come by the church, and I want to bring a second benefit to you. But I'm counting on you. I have confidence in you.
[8:32] I know we like each other. I know we've been blessed by each other. I know we're each other's joy, and I want to be brought on my way. What's that mean? I want you to help me get to the next town. I want you to help me get to the next stage of my ministry.
[8:43] That's what we do, by the way. And Faith Promised Conference comes up in just a little bit. We talk about that. We bless other people. We bless missionaries. We help them get to another part of their ministry.
[8:55] We help them get to the town. We help them get to the building built. This very week over in South Africa, Pastor Tom Hatley of Fellowship Baptist Church up in Maryville, Tennessee.
[9:05] They're in South Africa. And this week they've been helping build a building. They've been helping get everything ready. And today a church down there is meeting or met already in a building that's been helped and fixed for them.
[9:16] They were helped on their way. I hope you as a church know that you shouldn't be coming to church just to get a benefit. I ought to step into this pulpit and not expect a benefit from you. But I ought to step up here and say, I am here to bless you.
[9:28] I'm here to benefit you. I'm here to help you grow. I'm here to help you in your walk with the Lord Jesus. But you ought to also know that, hey, when you got saved and God put you in this, He didn't make me the only minister in this room.
[9:40] He didn't make me the only preacher in this room. He didn't make me the only teacher in this room. He didn't make me the only servant in this room. This is a room full of ministers. And everybody ought to be about the Father's work.
[9:50] And everybody ought to be about helping others. They would financially care for Paul and his ministry. They would take care of him while he was there. They would send him on the way. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.
[10:02] God builds those relationships. Now go with me to verse 17 if you would. Go with me to verse 17. Bible says, When I was therefore thus minded, did I use lightness or the things that I purpose to do?
[10:14] Do I purpose according to the flesh that with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay? But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. I didn't say yes and no at the same time.
[10:27] I didn't speak with a crooked tongue. I didn't speak out of two sides of my mouth. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
[10:40] Now I want you to write this down. God is in ultimate control. God is in ultimate control. There are circumstances beyond our control. Now I want you to listen to this.
[10:52] Because you see so many missionaries come and go from our church. They come, they get training, they go on to another place. You see men that God is working in their life. And here's what's going on. Paul said, I made a plan in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 that I would come to you and I would spend the winter with you.
[11:09] But he said in there, If I can, and when he finished it, he said, If the Lord permits me to. Well, he didn't make it. And some of them were like, Well, you said you were, but you didn't. And when you say yes, that kind of means no.
[11:20] And we really can't trust you. And oftentimes, you know, it's pretty easy in a church and among missionaries in church and church member and church member and pastor in church and church and pastor.
[11:31] It's easy for there to be misunderstandings where it's like he said, but he didn't do. And Paul wrote and said, I did. I did not say yes when I meant no. And I did not say no when I meant yes.
[11:42] I want to say the truth. I didn't lightly say that. First off, you ought never say lightly what God's will is for your life. It ought to be something you seek out and pray out and know and are committed to.
[11:56] Second thing, so don't flippantly say, this is God's will for my life. Another thing you need to know is God's will is not often as easy and clear to get a hold of as people think it is.
[12:08] In Acts chapter 16, the apostle Paul is on his way and he heads to a certain town. And as he goes towards this town, the Holy Spirit won't let him get in there. Won't let him go to this area, this region and preach the gospel.
[12:19] And he's like, man, I don't understand that. I was just trying to serve God and, and things didn't work out like I thought they would. I was had all the best intentions. I was going there. My yes was yes. I was going there, but it didn't work out.
[12:30] So the Bible says he turned and he went towards another region and the Holy Spirit stopped him again. And he's like, man, I am trying to serve God and I can't serve God. It doesn't seem like God's working this out. And then he's, he's sleeping.
[12:41] And in a dream, a man from Macedonia says, come over and help us. And Paul got up and when this time, when he got up, he said this, he assuredly gathered. He was pretty sure this is what God wants.
[12:52] So, you know, like we're trying to start another church. We'd like to start another church, man. I have been trying my best and trying to assuredly gather. And we're waiting, God, what are you going to do? And what are you going to do? And how are you going to open doors?
[13:03] And what are you going to do? Because it's God that does it. And Paul says, I don't speak lightly. I don't, I don't make flippant plans. And I don't intentionally deceive.
[13:14] He said, I care. I want you to know that I try to depend on the Lord. And I look to him to see what he would do. I get to verse 20. And here's our key verses 20 and following 20 down to 22.
[13:26] Look at this with me. If you would, verse 20 for all the promises of God and him are yay. And in him, amen under the glory of God by us.
[13:37] Stop just a second. It's all about him. It's all about his work in our lives. Now watch this. Even the apostle Paul disappointed some people.
[13:48] I wonder if somebody in this room would ever disappoint you. Not live up to what you thought. Not be who you were expecting. I wonder if you could disappoint somebody. I wonder if I might disappoint you.
[13:59] And here's what Paul said. I did not do that on purpose. I did not say yes when I meant no. I did not purpose after the flesh. I did not take lightly the things of God. I meant it when I said it.
[14:10] But then he says this. But I'll just make one thing perfectly clear to you. When God says yes, he means yes. And when God says no, he means no.
[14:20] God says amen, he means amen. Watch this. Paul said, I'm on my way. I'm going to go spend the time. We first created this chapter 16. I'm going to go spend the winter with you. If the Lord will let me. That's what I'd like to do.
[14:30] That's kind of what my plan is. Y'all write it down on your calendar. Somebody get a bed ready for me. I'll be there. And it didn't work out. But then Paul's not in charge. Paul's not in charge. And you're not in charge.
[14:42] And boy, doesn't that just really get to some of us. We're control freaks. And we think we ought to know what's happening. There are times I sit and I say, God, what's going on? God, I'm doing everything I know to do. And I'm worried about this.
[14:53] And I'm concerned about this. And I want to keep everything under my control. How many of you have a problem with that? Anybody have a problem with that? It's like, I've got to control things. I've got to be in charge. And Paul said, I can't. I'm not.
[15:03] But I can tell you who can. That's God. And so when God makes a promise, God means his promise. Now go to verse 21 with me. Look at verse 21. Now, and now he, God, which establishes you, establishes us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God, who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
[15:28] Man may fail you, but God never will. His promises will always come true. I would just like to stop and say something. Would you please listen to this? Man, more people have been burnt and hurt by preachers.
[15:40] It's horrible. Sometimes I'm almost embarrassed to be a preacher and a pastor because of how many times we've hurt you. But let me just remind you, keep your eyes on the one who is important.
[15:52] Keep your eyes on the one who never fails you. Keep your eyes on the one who will always do right. Keep your eyes on the one who is amen and yay.
[16:03] Keep your eyes on him. Keep your eyes on him. Some people come in church and other church members. There's a church member in here and he's been here longer than you and he's more mature than you and you get your feelings hurt, but you got your eyes in the wrong place.
[16:15] You got your eyes in the wrong place. It is God. It is God. It is God. Now watch this. Look what he said. It's God that establishes us in Christ. Do you see that in the verse?
[16:26] It's God that establishes us in Christ. Now look this way a second. It's easy to think that Pastor Paul established me. It's easy to think the Apostle Paul was here working in my life.
[16:39] He was my pastor. He showed me the Bible. He and his team baptized me. I went through foundations with them. I took my discipleship lessons with them. It's Paul that got me started. It's Paul that got me on the rocket.
[16:50] It's Paul that got me established. Well, here's what Paul says. No, it wasn't. No, it wasn't. No, it wasn't. Because if Paul established you, he might not be all he ought to be.
[17:02] But it is God that established you. Look at the verse. Look at the verse and make sure you get it down. Verse 20. Put a circle around the word God. Read verse 20 with me. For all the promises of God in him are yea and in him amen unto the glory of God.
[17:16] Put a circle around the word God. Two times. And then you go down to the pronoun in verse 21. That's he. And there's what they call an antecedent. How do I know who he is? I refer back to the proper noun that's been used.
[17:29] That the pronoun is taken part of. And it's he. God. God. Who established me? Who established me? Watch this. Get this clear. Who established me?
[17:40] It wasn't a church. It wasn't a disciple maker. It wasn't a Sunday school teacher. It wasn't a pastor. It wasn't a missionary. It wasn't a man of God. Today I'm firm in my salvation because God did a work in me.
[17:57] Can you say amen right there? Some pastor burnt you. Some pastor hurt you. Some church member burnt you. Somebody hurt you. You got reasons to kind of have some bitterness towards some people.
[18:07] Well let me give you a hint. Here's what he said. All the promises of God in Christ are yea and amen. And it is God who established you. It is God. It's God that gave me a walk with him.
[18:18] It's God that gave me holiness. It's God that gave me spiritual depth. It's God that gave me my eternal security. It is God. Look at the verse 21. Now he which established us with you in Christ.
[18:32] With you in Christ. He established us. It was him. Boy all the praise goes to God. We are into man worship today. Boy you turn on the TV and there's man preachers. And boy you're just like whoo he's the man of God.
[18:44] And then you go to a church and sometimes. So one of these big churches and everything. And the guy's just like oh he's holy. And he walks on air. He's not a regular man. And you get this man worship junk going. And here's what Paul said.
[18:56] Well I kind of messed up. Y'all been a little aggravated at me. But I didn't purpose in the flesh. And I didn't do it lightly. And my yes was yes. But I wasn't in charge. But by the way.
[19:07] It was not me who did the work in you. It was God. Can you say amen right there? Second thing he says. Look at it. It is God that has anointed us. Look if you would in verse 21.
[19:19] Now he which established us with you in Christ. And hath anointed us is God. Now I want you to look up here just a second. Who puts you in ministry? You see anointing is what they did.
[19:31] When a person was stepping into ministry. Lots of us have this idea that God's anointed is the pastor. And he's the only anointed. And he's the big man.
[19:41] And God's going to use him. And we like to even refer back to Old Testament stuff about kings. And the king was the only guy getting anointed. But in the New Testament we are anointed. You are anointed. You are anointed.
[19:52] Did you know when God saved you? He gifted you. God gave you abilities. God gave you gifts. God gave you abilities you could use to serve him.
[20:03] It is your time and your talent and your treasure. God gave you. You can be a Sunday school teacher. You can be a soul winner. You can help people. You can be a blessing. The whole chapter is about hey God's comforting me in my suffering.
[20:15] But he's comforting you in your suffering. It's God that anoints us. Who puts us in the ministry? Who allows us to serve God? It's God that anoints us.
[20:25] And I'm looking at a lot of anointed people this morning. You may not be living up to it. You may not be using what God gave you. You know like taking your ministry seriously. You might even be saying.
[20:36] Well I don't think vision recognizes that God wants to use me. Well let me remind you. It was God that established you. And it was God that anointed you. Say amen. And God wants to use you and your life ought to count.
[20:47] And you ought to be serving the God of heaven. Let me give you the next one. Go read with me if you would verse 22. Verse 22. Let's start back up in verse 21. Now he, God, which established us with you in Christ, hath anointed us and is God.
[21:02] Who hath also sealed us. Now you need to put a circle around that word sealed. There are some of you this morning. Now listen to me. There are some of you this morning that are not sure you have eternal security.
[21:15] You're not sure that if you died you'd go to heaven. You would say to me, yes I prayed. Yes I trusted God. But I'm just hoping I can hold on. I'm just hoping I can hang out in there. I'm just hoping I won't mess up.
[21:26] I'm just hoping that I can do all it takes to get all the way to heaven. Now I want you to catch what's going on here. Would you talk to me? Who established you? Who anointed you?
[21:39] Who sealed you? Now what's sealed mean? What's sealed mean? Well sealed, sealed is like what we would do to a letter to make sure it gets there. It's what they do to trucks and containers.
[21:50] I used to work for a grocery store. And when the big old semis pulled up and they would back up to the thing, before we ever opened that truck, we'd get down and we'd read the seal. And they would have sent us via telephone or via, it wasn't email, via mail.
[22:05] We'd know what the seal was on that truck. And we'd look and say, seal number matches seal number. So what they sent is what we're getting. Well, you know who sealed you?
[22:15] It was God. Do you know who is assuring that you make it? My eternal security doesn't depend on me and what I've done, but on him and what he did. He sealed us. He tied down the load.
[22:26] He made sure that I would arrive. Now you listen to this. The day you got saved. If you are truly, now if you're not saved, this doesn't apply to you. If you're not born again, if you never came to a place in your life when you realized you were a sinner, realized you deserved to go to hell, and you trusted Jesus and what he did on the cross, and what I'm about to say doesn't apply to you.
[22:43] But if you are born again and on your way to heaven and you know you trusted Christ, listen to what I'm about to tell you. He sealed you. Back on May the 6th, 1962, an almost 8-year-old boy bowed on his knees and asked Jesus Christ to save him.
[22:57] And there was nothing good that little boy could do. That little boy didn't understand much Bible. That little boy didn't know how to pray the right prayer. That little boy didn't know very much about what the Lord was. He didn't understand much.
[23:07] He wasn't even 8 years old yet. That little boy did not know that. But on that day, the Holy Spirit of God came down and convicted him and said, You are a sinner. And that little boy knew in his heart, I have sinned against the Holy God.
[23:19] And that little boy knew in his heart, I deserve to go to hell. And that little boy knew in his heart, Jesus died for him on the cross at Calvary. And that day, that little boy said, Jesus, all I know how to do is trust you the best I know how to trust you.
[23:29] And he said this, It's all up to me, buddy. You didn't buy it. You didn't earn it. The wages of sin is? But the gift of God.
[23:40] But the what of God? Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And he saved me. But what he did on the cross at Calvary, but that isn't where it stopped.
[23:51] Then he reached out and sealed me. He put his stamp on me. He marked me. He said, This one's mine. And he goes all the way. This one goes all the way to delivery.
[24:02] I belong to him. Salvation, eternal salvation, saved by grace salvation, is not what I do to get it nor to keep it. Some of you live under a bondage of, Well, I know he saved me because he's good.
[24:17] But if I'm not good, he'll take it back. No, sir. Salvation is God is good. He saved me when I didn't deserve it. He keeps me when I don't deserve it. And I can trust him to get me all the way through.
[24:28] He seals me. He seals me. That's one of the things he did. But go on. Look at the verse. Look at the verse with me again in verse 22. Who has also sealed us and given us the earnest of the spirit in our hearts.
[24:42] Underline earnest of the spirit in our hearts. Which is the Holy Spirit. Which is the Holy Spirit. He's already given us our first taste of heaven. He's already given the non-refundable down payment of our salvation.
[24:57] The Bible says, if you do not have the Holy Spirit, you're not his. But if you have believed, you have the Holy Spirit. And he dwells in you. And you're the temple of the Holy Spirit.
[25:08] And you are not your own. You're bought with a price. Now watch this. You need to get this. Watch it. Are you listening to me? Are you paying attention? He walked up and he gave that earnest money.
[25:19] How many of you know what earnest money is when you're buying a house? If you know what earnest money is, raise your hand and say amen. You know what earnest money is? That's the money you lose if you back out on the deal. Is that fair enough? Amen? Well, here's what happened.
[25:29] You know, years ago, Betty and I bought our first vehicle in Idaquipa, Peru. And I went to this guy. And he was a partier. But he was rich.
[25:41] And he came out about 11 o'clock. He was trying to wake up. And he threw water on his face. He tried to wet his hair down where he looked like he was awake. And I said, how much do you want for this car?
[25:51] And he said to me, in the money of the day, about $11,750. Well, that was the cheapest price I'd found. Every other price was $25,000 to $50,000. And the car only had a couple of thousand miles on it.
[26:05] And I said, well, I'll take it. And he said, well, I'm going to have to have some guarantee money. I'm going to have to have some earnest money. And so I pulled out everything I had. And we wrote out a little thing. And I went to the bank to get all the money to buy the vehicle.
[26:17] And when he showed up at the bank, he said, you cheated me. I said, how did I cheat you? I didn't try to get you to lower the price. He said, I didn't know that overnight the value of the money dropped in half.
[26:29] And that now that car that was worth $25,000 or $30,000 is only worth $11,750. I said, hey, I made the deal you made. You signed the paper. I signed the paper. I walked away with the car. Amen.
[26:41] He should have watched the news. Take a hint. The day God saved you, he walked over to you and he invested in you the Holy Spirit of God. He lives in you.
[26:54] He's inside of you. You are his temple. And he's already there. You already have eternal life. You're not going to get it. You're not waiting until you get to heaven and say, God goes, good, bad, let's weigh it out.
[27:07] Now, you see what happened? All your bad got put on Jesus. And all of Jesus is good, but I put on your account. You are saved by his goodness. But not only are you saved and sealed, not only are you established and anointed and sealed, you have the earnest.
[27:21] He put the Holy Spirit in you. He gave you his guarantee. Is he going to put his Holy Spirit in somebody who's not his? Is he going to give the Holy Spirit to a person who's not his?
[27:32] He sealed us with his Holy Spirit. What security of salvation when I realize that all of my salvation is the work of God, not me, not the church, and not a man.
[27:45] Amazing when I can believe and trust that all of God's promises are really true. Now, you look this way just a second. I'm through. You ready? Listen to this. Who showed you you were a sinner?
[27:58] Would you tell me his name? Who showed you you were a sinner? God? Can you say that? Who showed you you were a sinner? God through his Holy Spirit. God through his word. But God showed you.
[28:09] Who showed you that you were a sinner if you've recognized that point? Tell me. Hey, society didn't tell you. Georgians wouldn't agree with that. The United States wouldn't agree with that.
[28:20] I mean, we would all, hey, if I've ever done anything wrong, it's because of my mama or my first grade teacher. It's somebody else's fault. It sure ain't mine. It ain't my fault. But God said, no, Austin, you sinned.
[28:32] And I realized that. That was God working in me. Then God saved me. And I know God saved me. I didn't get saved because of anything I did. You could get baptized a hundred times and all you do is have wrinkly skin.
[28:47] The water wouldn't save you. You could join every church in the United States of America. And all you do is have a whole bunch of churches on your list of membership. Here's what saved you.
[28:59] God saved you. And then God established you and God anointed you and God sealed you and God gave you the earnest of your salvation, his spirit.
[29:09] So we praise God. There's nobody in this room that can look around and say, I don't think you quite measure up. You're not quite good enough to be amongst us. This is the elite.
[29:19] This is the, this is, these are the good guys in society. Now everybody in this room has to look around and say, Hey, I didn't deserve to be saved, but he saved me. I wasn't good enough, but he was good enough.
[29:30] I keeping me. He's keeping me. It's God. So if you're a born again, Christian, you ought to go home with this boy. Hallelujah. God is great.
[29:42] God is the one that establishes me. God's the one that anoints me. God's the one that seals me. And God's the one that gave me the earnest of my salvation. It's God. If you're not saved, you ought to know this.
[29:53] You've tried long enough. You tried turning over a new leaf. You tried reform. You tried every 12 step, nine step, three step and a hundred step program.
[30:03] You could, you've done everything you could and you can't fix you, but there is one who can fix you. It is God. It is God. And what does he tell you that you need to know for him to do that in your life?
[30:15] That you have sinned against the Holy God. The Bible says in Romans chapter three and verse 10, there is none righteous, nobody right. Nobody perfect. Nobody who's never sinned. No, not one.
[30:25] The Bible says in Romans 3 23, the Bible says for all have sinned, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Everybody's messed up from the preacher down to the last person.
[30:36] Everybody, only one didn't sin. And that was Jesus. The Bible is clear that because of my sin, I deserve what I have earned. I deserve my pay for the wages of sin is death.
[30:47] The payment for my sin is death. The Bible talks about death as being dying physically, dying spiritually, a second death, the lake of fire. But the gift of God gift, not something you bought and paid for, not something you earned, not something you deserve.
[31:02] The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Bible says that God commended. God showed. God proved his love toward us. And while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us while we were still doing wrong.
[31:17] God wasn't up there in heaven saying, when you straighten up your act, I'll save you. God up in heaven is looking down saying, I love you while you hadn't straightened up Jack. I love you because you can't straighten up your act, but I can straighten up your act.
[31:27] And God saves us. And you believe that in your heart. You confess that with your mouth unto salvation. Have you done that? If you're not 100% positive that you'd go to heaven if you died, I challenge you today to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and let him do a work in your life.
[31:45] Father in heaven, I praise you for this wonderful passage. I pray that you would help us to take it home, take it to our heart. I pray God that every Christian would magnify you and praise you. I pray to God that every lost person, every person who doesn't know you, every person who's not following you today would accept the free gift of grace already paid for, already taken care of.
[32:06] All they need to do is believe you because it's all done by you. Finished on Calvary. God, I love you. You have been listening to Austin Gardner, pastor of Vision Baptist Church.
[32:19] For contact information, location, service times, or more audio and video recordings, log on to www.visionbaptist.com. Thank you.